Comment by clarkmoody

R&D is ultra-expensive in-part because of government regulation. So the government is playing both sides of the ball:

+ Pile up mountains of red tape through the FDA

+ Provide patent protections for those with enough money to wade through the red tape

+ Give R&D grants to companies with taxpayer money to take up the slack in their budget

So since R&D is so expensive, only large companies can afford it, which is just fine for them: it keeps out competitors.